The Other Way: Galatians 3:10-14
God’s Spirit comes to us through faith, not obedience to the Law. As an example, consider the Pentecost story. Hardly a few weeks prior to Pentecost, Peter denied knowing Jesus. Yet at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit comes upon Peter and Peter gives an incredibly convicting message. God’s Spirit doesn’t come upon Peter because of his perfection; it comes upon Peter because of his belief in the faithfulness of Christ.
There are high standards and then there are absurdly high standards. Paul’s quote of Deuteronomy 27:26 gives us an absurdly high standard. By absurdly high, I don’t necessarily mean wrong. I mean the standard sets the bar beyond exceptionally high. Paul reminds us God’s Law says, “Everyone who does not abide by – and do - all things in the Law is cursed.”
If there is one part of the Law we don’t do, we are cursed. If there is one part of the Law we transgress against, we are cursed. That’s an absurdly high standard. It’s also unattainable. Every single individual has broken the Law. We are all cursed. If any of us think God loves us because of how good we are, we’ve got another thing coming. Maybe that’s why Jesus said to the rich young ruler, “Why do you call me good? Only God is good.”
The Law is truly an unattainable measuring stick. That doesn’t make it useless; it means we strive for it knowing we’ll never reach it. The Law is God’s ideal, we fall short. We need another way.
That other way is Jesus. Jesus intercedes for us so the Law isn’t our measure for righteousness. Jesus intercedes to present us with an option we can meet.
Jesus dies so our transgressions against the Law are wiped away. Jesus didn’t die so the Law would be cast aside; He died to redeem us from the curse of the Law. We’re still guilty. We’re still fallen. We still don’t measure up. What Jesus does is make it so that even though we don’t measure up, it’s okay. He redeems us in our brokenness and invites us along another path.
That path is the path of faith. We may die to the Law, but we live by faith. We may deserve condemnation, but we live by faith. All can embrace the faithfulness of Christ. We are all capable of putting our hope in God. We all have the capacity to repent of our failings and conform to God’s ways.
Faith is not about casting aside the Law. Faith is about recognizing God gives us grace, love, and mercy instead of the wrath and condemnation we deserve. Faith is about recognizing that even though we fall short, we can still have relationship with God.
Enter in the Holy Spirit. Through the faithfulness of Jesus, we can be the sons and daughters of Abraham. As proof, God gives us His Spirit. God’s Spirit comes to us through faith, not obedience to the Law.
